On 31 January 2020, the government of Mongolia announced that foreign citizens, including American citizens, may not enter the country from China. The Mongolian government adopted these measures in response to the World Health Organization’s declaration that the novel coronavirus outbreak, originating in Wuhan, China, is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

From 1 February to 2 March 2020, citizens of foreign countries, including American citizens, are prohibited from entering Mongolia from China at land border crossings and via air travel and rail.

During the same period, travelers departing Mongolia to China may only do so via air departures from Ulaanbaatar’s Chinggis Khan International Airport and via the rail crossing at Zamiin-Uud.

However, we strongly recommend departing Mongolia via routes that do not cross China. These exit routes may no longer be available due to the present situation’s rapidly developing nature. Furthermore, we recommend you do not travel to China at all based on our Travel Advisory issued on 30 January. More information on this travel advisory can be found at travel.state.gov.

For now, travel to Mongolia from all other countries except China remains open.

Actions to Take:

If your travel plans before 2 March include transiting China on your way to Mongolia you should take steps to re-route your trip since you will be denied entry to Mongolia should you transit there.

If you plan to depart Mongolia via a land border into China before 2 March you should take steps to depart via air as you will not be allowed to exit Mongolia.

If your travel plans include crossing into China via rail at the Zamiin-Uud border crossing you should consider departure via air as this crossing may become unreliable due to the rapidly changing nature of the present situation.

This is a developing situation and is changing regularly. You should monitor media and travel.state.gov for future updates.